Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 730: It’s Time For You To Step Into The Spotlight

Astrea thought, and thought, and thought about it some more.

In the end, she came to one conclusion.

Thinking was hard!

It hurt her brain!

Why do people need to make things complicated?!

By nature, Astrea was a very simple girl. She enjoyed what she liked doing and hated what she didn’t like.

And right now, the thing she hated the most was thinking!

Because of this, she decided to take the initiative to approach Lapiz and Efa.

“Excuse me, Lapiz,” Astrea said as if she had just spotted a friend that was in the corner of the main hall.

“Astrea?” Lapiz smiled after seeing her friend that she got along with.

“I have a question for you, Lapiz.”

“Ask.”

Astrea took a deep breath to steady her nerves before asking her friend a question.

“Do you want to dance with Alex?” Astrea asked.

“H-Huh?” Lapiz was taken aback by the young lady’s question, not knowing how to reply.

“You see, I want to dance with Alex.” Astrea ignored Lapiz’s surprised expression. “But I accidentally heard your chat earlier. You said you also want to dance with him. Since both of us want to dance with him, I have a proposal.”

Astrea rested her hands on her waist and puffed up her chest, as if she had just thought of a genius plan that would solve her friend’s problem.

“You can dance with him first, then I’ll dance after you,” Astrea stated.

Lapiz blinked, while Efa giggled.

“I like this plan,” Efa said with a smile.

“B-But why do I have to go first?” Lapiz suddenly became flustered after realizing that Astrea had overheard her conversation with Efa just now.

She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole and hide there until the party was over!

“Well, I originally planned to propose a coin toss,” Astrea admitted. “And whoever guessed right ought to dance with Alex first. However, I have never lost a coin toss.”

The young lady looked so smug that Lapiz didn’t know how to handle her proposal.

Seeing her hesitate, Astrea reached out to hold her hand. “Lapiz, do you know this? When you let happiness escape your grasp, it might never come back again.”

“Eh?” Lapiz was overwhelmed by Astrea’s grip and the intensity of her gaze.

“My mother told me that.” Astrea nodded firmly. “If you want something, reach out. Just take it. Otherwise, you’ll regret it later.”

“Astrea…” Lapiz’s cheeks reddened.

“She’s right, you know?” Efa commented. “Regret is a very bitter pill.”

Lapiz lowered her gaze at those words.

Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the hem of her dress. She understood what the two were trying to tell her.

The problem was that she was afraid to take the initiative to do something.

The more precious something became to her, the more frightening it was for her to reach for it.

“What if…” Lapiz hesitated. “What if things become awkward later?”

“Awkward?” Astrea tilted her head.

“What if Alex doesn’t want to dance with me?” Lapiz replied sadly.

“”Impossible.””

Astrea and Efa replied at the same time, which made the two of them smile after realizing that they were thinking the same thing.

“If Alex refuses to dance with you, then I’ll beat him up!” Astrea patted her chest. “Leave it to me. I’m the Singing Queen after all!”

Lapiz and Efa both wondered what the connection was between her being the Singing Queen and beating Alex up.

Though, they didn’t point this out because Astrea was doing her best to encourage Lapiz to become a little bolder.

“H-How about you dance with Alex first?” Lapiz proposed. “I’ll dance after you.”

“No, you won’t.” Astrea shook her head. “I can see it in your eyes. You are hesitating. But, do you know?”

“Know what?” Lapiz asked back.

Astrea smiled. “The people who are the most afraid are usually the ones who care the most.”

The elven princess didn’t understand this logic. Fortunately, her friend was more than happy to explain it to her.

“If you didn’t care about Alex, you wouldn’t be this worried about being rejected,” Astrea explained. “If he was just a stranger to you, you wouldn’t even need to consider whether you will dance with him or not.”

Astrea tightened her grip on Lapiz’s hand, making sure to share her courage with her.

“My mother also told me something else.”

“Your mother knows a lot of things, huh?”

“Of course. My mom is very smart!” Astrea looked very proud. “She said that the bravest people aren’t the ones who aren’t scared. The bravest people are the ones who move forward even when they’re scared.”

Lapiz fell silent, while Efa nodded in agreement.

“Being brave doesn’t mean that you have forgotten what fear feels like,” Astrea added. “It’s choosing not to let fear decide for you.”

As if waiting for that moment, applause reverberated throughout the surroundings, signaling that the current dance session had ended.

Efa silently moved away, so that Alex wouldn’t see her. In fact, she was using a spell that prevented others from seeing her face clearly from a distance.

“Go.” Astrea gave Lapiz a gentle push. “Stop being a spectator. It’s time for you to step into the spotlight.”

That gentle push made Lapiz take a single step forward. Though, as if Astrea had imbued some kind of power into her, the elven princess took another step, then another.

Before she knew it, she was moving toward Alex, who was escorting Aeris back to her table.

Seeing her sister approach them, Aeris did her best to stop the smile on her face from breaking.

She had told Lapiz not to dance with Alex tonight for her own good.

Aeris thought that if she danced with the young man, her sister would become disillusioned and back away on her own.

But the look of determination on her sister’s face made Aeris have a bad feeling.

“Alex,” Lapiz said with a smile that almost took the young man’s breath away. “Would you like to dance with me?”

Aeris’ bad premonition had finally come true. However, just as she was about to put a stop to it, an arrow from Cupid’s bow hit her back, making her fall into a daze for a few seconds.

Those precious seconds were enough for Alex to give the young lady, who had gathered her courage to take a leap of faith, his hand.

“It will be my pleasure to dance with you, Lapiz,” Alex replied.

The smile on Lapiz’s face grew brighter because the young man didn’t reject her.

Dim Dim and Cupid then exchanged a high five with each other.

No one knew that while Lapiz was walking toward Alex, she made a silent prayer in her heart, asking the Gods to give her courage.

And with the Gods being in close proximity to her, this silent prayer had been answered right away.

By the time Aeris came to her senses, Alex had already escorted her sister to the dance floor.

She watched helplessly as the young man rested his hand on her sister’s waist and held her other hand firmly in his grasp.

Soon, a slow and mellow music started to play, which was meant for couples to dance slowly while looking at each other’s eyes.

Naturally, Cupid had also played a hand in this arrangement. He even did another high five with the Goddess Lily, who had also heard Lapiz’s silent prayer.